Withdrawal of flexible material from a package with twistless payout

ABSTRACT

A package of flexible material formed by a plurality of layers each composed of a series of figures 8s with a radial opening through which the inner end of the material is led out of the package is dispensed by mounting it on opposed conical members which are directed towards each other inserted into the ends of the axial space within the package and withdrawing the flexible material through the radial opening.

United States Patent 1191 Newman 1 1 WITI-IDRAWAL OF FLEXIBLE MATERIALFROM A PACKAGE WITH TWISTLESS PAYOUT [75] Inventor: James W. Newman,Scarsdale, NY.

[73] Assignee: windings, Inc., Yonkers, NY.

[ Notice: The portion of the term of this patent subsequent to Sept. 5,1989,

has been disclaimed.

[22] Filed: Aug. 24, 11972 [21] Appl. No.: 283,486

Related US. Application Data [63] Continuatiomin-part of Ser. No.113,319, Feb. 18, 1971. Pat. No. 3,698,005, which is acontinuation-in-part of Serr No. 819,777, April 28, 1969. abandoned.which is a continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 810,990, March 27, 1969,abandoned.

[111 3,877,661 1*Apr. 15, 1975 [58] Field of Search 242/163, 129, 129.5,130, 242/131, 131.1

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,634,922 4/1953 Taylor,.lr. 242/163 2.828,092 3/1958 Taylor, Jrv 242/163 3,689,005 9/1972Newman 242/163 Primary ExaminerStan1ey N. Gilreath [57] ABSTRACT Apackage of flexible material formed by a plurality of layers eachcomposed of a series of figures 85 with a radial opening through whichthe inner end of the material is led out of the package is dispensed bymounting it on opposed conical members which are directed towards eachother inserted into the ends of the axial space within the package andwithdrawing the flexible material through the radial opening.

4 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures WITHDRAWAL OF FLEXIBLE MATERIAL FROM APACKAGE WITH TWISTLESS PAYOUT PRIOR APPLICATIONS This application is acontinuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 113.319 filed Feb. 18.1971. now US. Pat. No. 3.698.005. which is in turn a continuation-inpartof application Ser. No. 819.777 filed Apr. 28. 1969. now abandoned.which is in turn a continuationin-part of application Ser. No. 810.990.filed Mar. 27. 1969 now abandoned.

The claims of application Ser. No. 113.319 are directed to a package offlexible material having conical inserts into the ends which guide thematerial during its withdrawal from the package. The present applicationis directed to stands of the type shown in FIGS. 5-8 of application Ser.No. 113.319. and to the method of withdrawal of flexible material fromthe package utilizing such a stand.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The inventionrelates to a stand for supporting a package of flexible material duringthe withdrawal thereof through a radial opening in the package and tothe method of withdrawing the material from such a package.

2. The Prior Art Taylor US. Pat. No. 2.767.938 shows a package offlexible material formed of layers each composed of a plurality offigure 8s. with the free inner end of the material led out through aradial opening.

Taylor patent no. 2.828.092 shows such a package in which the innersurfaces of the end portions of the internal surface of the axialopening are frustoconical and are supported during handling by shortconical members extending partly into the package. These cones are heldin place by the material of the package.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Packages of the type shown in the Taylorpatents referred to have proven satisfactory for twistless payouts atlow speeds. However. at high speeds there appears to be no way to insurethat in the course of a payout of substantial yardage from suchpackages. a working loop will not half-hitch a loose loop before thepayout through the hole is effected. This results in interferences witha smooth payout of the material. and may stop it altogether.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an arrangement whichgreatly improves the payout from packages of this type at high speeds.

Furthermore. since the wind itself pays out from an air core through aradial hole in twistless form. and this type of payout is essential tothe package. and since there is a limit to the size ofa package in whichthe last coils paid out will sustain themselves even with the additionof applied chemicals that are not adhesives. there is a premium on beingable to cascade packages in a continuous manner. This requires splicingfor wires. rope and certain types of yarn. requires knots for certainother types of yarn. and for still other types of yarn requires specialjoining procedures that are chemical in nature.

It is a further object of the invention. therefore. to provide a systemfor cascading packages of this type with which rapid payout of longlengths of flexible material is possible.

It has been found that conical inserts into the ends of the air corewhich almost meet one another or meet one another with separate contactopposite the position of the radial hole and which perform a functionwhich prevents the half-hitch from forming and yet does not providesignificant resistance to payout if the surfaces of the cones are smoothat all points.

Basically. the arrangement ofthe present application contemplates thesupport of one or more packages of the type shown in the Taylor patentsheretofore referred to to assist in the smooth payout. this consistingof two facing cones mounted on stationary walls and extending into theinterior of the axial opening within the package. The cones extend atleast substantially up to the transverse mid-plane of the package. andpreferably the distance between the apices of each of the ta peringmembers (as projected) and the base thereof is substantially at least asgreat as the distance between the base and the transverse mid-plane ofthe package.

Since the ultimate objective is to secure packaging that will providefor high-speed. long-length payout in convenient winding sizes andhandleable packages that are in effect shipping containers. a pay-offdolly can be arranged that will house one or two rows of coils of sixdispensing packages each containing in turn six coils. Each of thesewould be connected by joining of the ends in the most appropriatemanner. To this dolly might be attached permanent cones on hinged doorsthat could be opened and closed: being opened when the dolly is notbeing used or when packages are being inserted into the dolly. Cones canalso be connected to a source of electrical energy which would reflectwhen they touch inside the package so that each cone could be adjustedslightly to provide the optimum space between the cone points for payoutpurposes. Each cone can have a knob or an adjusting attachment thatwould enable it to be screwed out or in to get to the optimum position.Each coil will be connected to the next coil by joining and each of theseries of six will be joined together. The dolly has pulleys top andbottom to transfer the line from package to package. This conicalarrangement will replace cones built into the packages themselves.

According to a further feature of the invention. the cones mounted onthe walls are not right cones. but have their axes forming slight angleswith the longitudinal center line of the package. with the ends notbeing opposite each other.

According to another feature of the invention. one of the cones isrounded and the other has a recess in its tip opposite the rounded end.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings:

FIG. I shows an arrangement for supporting a package of flexiblematerial of the type described with a package mounted thereon. incross-section on the line 1-1 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 2 shows an end view ofa dolly for holding a plurality of packages;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the dolly;

FIG. 4 is a cross-section through a portion of a modified form ofpackage holding dolly;

FIGS. 5 and 6 show modif cations of the supporting COPIES.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIG. 1, thepackage 2 is formed of flexible material. such as wire. thread. yarn.tape or other material of any cross-section formed. for example. in themanner shown in one of the Taylor U.S. Pat. Nos. 2.634.922 and2.767.938. Such a package is constituted by a plurality of layers offigure-8 coils. the crossovers of which progress around the package. Byinterruption of the cross-overs or in some other suitable way thepackage is provided with a radial opening 4 into the central axialopening 6. The free inner end 8 of the material is led out through thisradial opening.

Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a part of a casing composed of aback wall 2 and a removable front wall 4 which may for example be hingedat 6. The back wall and the door each carry cones 8 or other taperingmembers which point towards each other. The cones extend substantiallyup to the center line of the container. and serve to support packages 10of flexible material wound in the manner described in the Taylor patentsreferred to above. The space between the tips of the cones is preferablyonly slightly greater than the diameter of the flexible material. andgenerally at most four times as great. Apiees of the tapering members.projected. are at least as far from the walls 2 and 4 (bases of thecones) as the distance from the walls to the mid-plane of the package.The cones preferably have rounded ends.

The cones act to guide the loops as they are pulled off from the innerwall of the package and prevent them from entangling with each other andcreating a snarl.

The packages are intended to be cascaded. the materounded end 18, whilethe tip of the other cone 8h has a recess therein. This means that thecones may be rounded off and maintained quite close to or evenoverlapping each other without danger of actual contact if one of themis displaced slightly towards the other.

FIG. 5 shows an arrangement in which one of the cones 8 is mounted onthe wall. such as wall 2. while the other one 8' is mounted on wall 4 bya screw 22, secured to the cone. which is threaded in bracket 23. Thescrew is connected through alarm 24 and a source of current to the cone.The cone 8' has a cylindrical outer end portion slidable in a hole inwall 4. The cones are made of metal. It is thus possible to adjust onecone to the other by screw 22 until contact is made. which it isindicated by the alarm. after which this cone can be backed off by asmall distance by a predetermined turning of the screw.

In the arrangement as shown in FIG. 6, the axes of the cones 8c. 8d arenon-coincident so that their ends can even overlap in a verticaldirection without making contact.

I claim:

I. A stand for mounting a universal wind package of flexible materialhaving an unobstructed axial opening and a radial opening extending fromthe periphery of the package to the axial opening through which theinner end of the material is drawn out comprising opposed taperingmembers terminating at a short distance from each other. said taperingmembers supporting the package of flexible material the stand havingwalls supporting said tapering members and the distance from each wallto the apex of the tapering member carried thereby being at leastsubstantially as great as the distance from each wall to the mid-planeof the stand.

2. A stand as claimed in claim 1, in which the free end of one of thetapering members is rounded and the free end of the other taperingmember has a recess therein.

3. A stand as claimed in claim 1. in which the axes of the taperingmembers are non-coincident.

4. A stand as claimed in claim 1 having a plurality of I pairs oftapering members with parallel axes mounted on said walls.

1. A stand for mounting a universal wind package of flexible materialhaving an unobstructed axial opening and a radial opening extending fromthe periphery of the package to the axial opening through which theinner end of the material is drawn out comprising opposed taperingmembers terminating at a short distance from each other, said taperingmembers supporting the package of flexible material the stand havingwalls supporting said tapering members and the distance from each wallto the apex of the tapering member carried thereby being at leastsubstantially as great as the distance from each wall to the midplane ofthe stand.
 2. A stand as claimed in claim 1, in which the free end ofone of the tapering members is rounded and the free end of the othertapering member has a recess therein.
 3. A stand as claimed in claim 1,in which the axes of the tapering members are non-coincident.
 4. A standas claimed in claim 1 having a plurality of pairs of tapering memberswith parallel axes mounted on said walls.